Wednesday, May 20: Tin Pan Alley
7:30 p.m. @ Charles Allis Art Museum ($7/$5/free for seniors/students/museum members)
Charles Allis’ “Show Girls” programming (not to be confused with programming Showgirls, a very different act) continues this week with Tin Pan Alley, starring Alice Faye and Betty Grable as singing sisters recruited by struggling song producers played by John Payne and Jack Oakie to help make them a success. Romance, heartbreak and not least of all musical numbers ensue. This has yet to be released on DVD (still only VHS), so this is a rare opportunity indeed.
Friday, May 22: Lambert & Stamp, Poltergeist and Tomorrowland all open in local release
A few options come out in wider release this weekend, including this story of underground filmmakers turned music producers who just so happened to bring to the world the music of a little band called The Who. Lambert & Stamp has gotten positive reviews in its short time in release, and fans of music docs shouldn’t miss the opportunity to check it out.
Poltergeist looks crummy to me. But Gil Kenan made the underrated kid’s picture Monster House and it’s packed with a heckuva cast (Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris) so I’ll hold out hope that this isn’t the warmed over remake it appears to be, taking what made the original nearly wholesale without adding anything of value to the table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sH0__SpV88
I still don’t really know what Tomorrowland’s about, but hopefully seeing the movie will rectify that. There’s a magical place that only special people can go, but robots don’t want them to go there? I trust Brad Bird to make good films, but I specifically do not trust Damon Lindelof to write solid screenplays (Cowboys & Aliens, Prometheus and Star Trek Into Darkness complete the ‘fool me thrice’ trilogy) so this is a tossup. Clooney, though.
Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25: The Great Muppet Caper
10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. & 3:00 p.m. @ select local Marcus Theaters (click here to purchase tickets – $5)
Muppet Mania continues at local Marcus Theaters this week with the second theatrical outing for the Muppets and the only one to be directed by Jim Henson. It’s a heist plot, and probably not the greatest Muppet film around, but it has its charms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRG6OjMhmZ4
Saturday, May 23: Kings Row
7:30 p.m. @ The Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave. ($3)
This weekend affords you to opportunity to check out what many consider to be Ronald Reagan’s finest big screen performances in the sordid melodrama Kings Row. A small town is beset by tragedy and secrets, including a sadistic surgeon who performs unnecessary amputations. If you have a taste for melodrama, this should certainly sate your appetite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXeIr470Y-M
